Should I invite my brother to my wedding?

The Rebbetzin's sukkah was filled with women. Her invitation said a night of cheese and wine in honour of those we’ve all lost since last Simchat Torah. I held her seventh baby in a quiet corner. He breathed softly, looking through the darkness, seeking the source of merriment. His breathing a comfort, a soothing metronome of life. It took me an hour to coax him to sleep.

The Rebbetzin welcomed us and urged us to eat and said quietly that if I wanted to address the crowd, they would welcome words of hope from me. She asked if I wanted to put the baby down, which I did, and the baby immediately woke, without a whimper. I went to mingle with the women.

One of them was a teacher at my school. She had just arrived after years as a combat soldier in the IDF. She was engaged to an Australian who wanted to settle near family. The wedding was very soon. But the bride had a dilemma.

I sipped sparkling water. The Rebbetzin approached to say that the women had their fill of food and drink and were hoping for words of hope, and did I have any?

Words of hope don’t spring spontaneously from my back pocket. I have to look for them and turn them over before delivering them. I asked the Rebbetzin for some time.

The soldier bride kept talking. She asked if she should invite her groom’s militantly anti-Zionist brother, who has testified against the Jews before the government, saying antisemitism is a myth and a hoax. He campaigns for the elimination of Jews in Israel, and the expulsion of non-Natives from Australia. Should she allow this man - her groom’s brother - into her wedding?